Aria's Story
by Dragongirl121
Summary: This story is based on Aphmau's Minecraft Diaries with a few twists. Follow Aria through her adventures as she evades Shadow Knights, fights battles, leads a village, and discovers the secrets of her heritage. Rated T for battle scenes and some romance. I do not own Minecraft, Minecraft Diaries or any of Aphmau's characters.
1. Chapter 1

1.

 _ **This story is based around the Minecraft Diaries series by Aphmau with a some added twists from me and a few new characters. I do not own Minecraft, Minecraft Diaries, nor any of Aphmau's characters. This story has no real connections with the original series so please keep that in mind and enjoy it for what it is. Thanks!**_

Chapter 1

The Beginning

I am a girl with a dark and mysterious past. Besides being hounded by the Shadow Knights and terrorized by werewolves, my home was burned, my family divided and my life torn apart. I had to brave these trials and others during my many adventures. My name is Aria, and this is my story...

It all started one evening ten years ago. My best friend Hazel and I were sitting in the forest together, talking and playing as we usually did. Everything was calm and peaceful, but in one instant, all that changed.

I stood up and looked toward the edge of the forest, which was just out of view behind a hill.

Hazel looked towards me and asked, "Aria? What's wrong?"

I continued to stare, not seeming to hear her.

She stood up next to me and shook my shoulder gently.

"Aria? ARIA!"

I was startled out of my thoughts by her urgent call.

I replied to her in a decievingly calm voice, "Something is wrong, Hazel, terribly wrong." I could smell an acrid stench, a fire maybe?

She stared at me for a moment and then looked in the direction I just had a moment before. She didn't notice anything suspicious.

"What is it?" she asked me, confused.

Eyes wide with fear, I replied in a trembling voice, "It's a fire Hazel...THE VILLAGE IS ON FIRE!"

With those words we both rushed over the hill and out of the forest. We were greeted by the sight of billowing smoke and raging fires.

"WHAT DO WE DO?" Hazel cried, face pale.

"We have to go find everyone! Lord Samuel surely would have placed a camp across the river as a shelter for the villagers!" I said.

Hazel nodded and we dashed in the direction of the river, trying to see the village beyond the line of trees. We came to the river, raced across the mossy bridge spanning it, and then ran along the opposite side.

As we came to a place where the trees thinned to allow a clear view of the village, I stopped and stared.

"Mom?" I whispered and watched a tall, red-haired woman standing atop the wall as she defended the village. As I looked, a shadowy form crept up behind her. I wanted to shout, scream, call for her to look out, but my body seemed frozen in place, and I couldn't speak at all.

The shadowy figure seemed to sense my stare and turned towards me. For a second, I saw part of his face: he was Zane, the High Priest of O'Kasis. With one cold look at me, he turned his attention to my mother, who was using her barrier magicks to defend the wall.

As I watched, Zane lifted a long, evil-looking dagger and stabbed it through my mother's heart. She gasped and fell to her knees. In another instant, she was laying motionless on the wall.

I stepped back, mouth whispering a soundless plea: no, please no..

Hazel grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the forest and out of danger, tears of grief falling down her cheeks as well as mine.

My mind was paralyzed. Why? Why had this happened? Why my mother? It was too much to take in. With one final sob I collapsed on the ground, my mind overwhelmed. Just before I blacked out, I heard a call. "Hazel! Aria! Oh, Irene help us!" It was Alex.

I woke up some time later, feeling dazed and exhausted. I felt someone next to me. I carefully flexed my fingers and felt someone's hand clutching mine. Just as suddenly as I had felt it, it was gone. Opening my eyes, I focused on the dull canvass of a tent.

"Aria?" A boy's voice asked.

I felt burned and bruised, and everything hurt.

"What happened?" I asked numbly, without really knowing what I was saying.

"You've been out for quite some time. Hazel and I had to drag you through the forest, but the fire jumped the river and blocked our path. We had to make a dash for it, and you got burned.

I knew who it was now; it was Alex. Alex was a year older than me: eight years old, and he has blonde hair and light blue eyes.

"Where's Hazel?" I asked wearily.

"My sister is watching her. Not many of the grown-ups made it out of the village. Hazel told me what happened to your mother." His voice sounded sorrowful.

I mustered the strength to try and sit up. Alex didn't stop me, he just waited patiently next to me.

I looked towards him. His solemn face reminded me of the tragedy. He looked down and to the right, half of his face hidden in a shadow.

"Zane," I managed to whisper. "It was Zane." And tears started to roll down my cheeks.

Alex looked both sad and angry at the same time. "Zane and his dragons attacked Karis and killed every magicks user. My parents and yours were included."

"We weren't a threat. We didn't do anything!" I sobbed.

He looked down. "We must have, either that, or Zane is just out of his mind."

"I thought Karis was part of the O'Kasis Alliance!" I cried.

"We were...but Zane must have had a reason," Alex said, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"What is Lord Samuel doing about all of this?" I asked softly, wiping away my tears.

"It has been two days since the attack. Lord Samuel has ordered any remaining able-bodied men and women to guard a perimeter around the camp in case Zane comes back for the survivors," Alex said solemnly.

I nodded, but Alex continued.

"Lord Samuel is also planning to exile all those who are cursed by the Ghost. He blames them for this misfortune," Alex finished.

I looked at him, horrified.

"That superstition has been subdued over the past few years...has it resurfaced again?" I asked.

The Curse, formally known as the Ghost's Curse declares that any man, woman or child with light-colored skin, hair or eyes is cursed by the Ghost of the Silver Moon at birth. This superstition never made any sense to me, but people still believed it.

I suddenly realized something. Alex and his brother, Josh would be exiled, along with any close family members of theirs. That would be Sibyl and Ellie, Alex's little sisters.

I also realized that anyone else who had blonde hair or blue eyes would be exiled, including Hazel and many of my other friends.

I wanted to speak to him about this, and other things, seeing as he had been one of my closest friends since we were toddlers, but he opened the tent flap and prepared to leave, a pained expression on his face.

"Alex..." I whispered.

"Everyone is gone, Ari. I risked my life for Ellie, but she died in the fire," he said, a sob catching in his throat.

In the light let in from the open tent flap, I saw a long, jagged cut running across the right side of his face. In the dim light of the tent I hadn't noticed. Also, he had kept his face down and not looked straight at me, which also would have made it harder for me to see.

Tears came to my eyes as I processed what he said.

"Everyone? W-what about Michael?" I asked softly.

He turned to look at me, the cut now clearly visible. It had healed over a little, but I could still see the remaining traces of stitches. His countenance lightened a bit at my words.

"Your brother was one of the few guards-in-training who survived...though he will be tried too...you and he will probably be sent to Renya. My siblings and I will be sent to the Swamplands," he said quietly.

Renya was the place that most of the people were exiled to. Since Michael had blonde hair, and I was his sister, we would both be sent to the island.

The Swamplands were much worse. That was where the scarred people went.

Another superstition claims that if a person is scarred, no matter the cause, they must be sent away to avoid more bad luck coming to those around him or her. This superstition was widely abided, and I remember in my younger years several people close to me had been sent away because of it. The Swamplands were just as they sounded, dark, murky swamps with dangerous reptiles and panthers lurking within. It was basically a death sentence unless they managed to find the settlement that was rumored to exist in the swamps.

Tears brimmed in my eyes. He saw them and quickly turned away and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" I called softly, tears spilling out.

"The trial is starting. I must go." And with a final look towards me full of longing and sadness, he went out of the tent and closed the flap. That look haunted me. I couldn't decipher it's meaning, nor could I bring myself to call out after Alex to come back so I could speak with him.

Alone in the tent, I let the sadness and grief that I had kept inside come out now. To say the least, I cried.

 ** _If you enjoyed this chapter, please comment and give advice and ideas for the next one, thanks!_**

 _ **=^.^= Ari the Dragongirl =^.~=**_


	2. Chapter 2

2.

 ** _This story is based around the Minecraft Diaries series by Aphmau with a few added twists from me. I do not own Minecraft, Minecraft Diaries, or any of Aphmau's characters. This story has no real connections with the original series so please keep that in mind and enjoy it for what it is. Thanks!_**

Chapter 2

The Escape

I was awoken my my sixteen-year-old brother's gentle tap on my shoulder later that night.

"Ari!" He called softly.

"What?" I mumbled.

"We have to leave!" Michael said urgently.

"WHAT?" I asked, shocked.

"Shhh!" He shushed me. "I'm taking you to Aunt Matilda and Uncle Elliot's house in Meteli...we have to leave tonight. They are exiling us in the morning."

"Can Alex, Josh and Sibyl come with us? And Hazel?" I asked, not daring myself to hope.

Michael hesitated for a brief second, caught off guard, but after a moment answered, "No. If we take more people, we only increase our chances of being discovered. That is my final decision."

My heart sank. He had said this with such fierceness, though, that I didn't argue with him.

"Okay," I said meekly, and followed him out of the tent. I looked down at my clothes and was surprised to see that I was wearing a clean blue dress that was a bit too big for me. I hiked the skirt up over my knees and ran to catch up with Michael's long strides.

"Wait...up!" I puffed, almost tripping over the long skirt.

"No. We have very little time," Michael whispered over his shoulder. He stopped suddenly and motioned for me to get down. I obeyed and crouched in the bushes.

A female guard in a heavy set of armor stepped past, sword drawn and poised for combat. She was patrolling the perimeter of the camp.

Michael motioned for me to follow him again and I did so.

We hurried to the docks, and untied a small boat. Michael took out a compass and studied it closely, trying to determine the direction we would go in. I quickly climbed into the boat and hurried to untie the canvass sail. He looked up after a minute and pushed off before swinging into the boat himself. He seemed stiff, hardly noticing that his boots were now drenched.

I scanned the beach, searching for any sign of a threat. There was no one. Michael checked the sail and then almost fell over as a large gust of wind caused us to shoot forward. I giggled slightly, the first of the kind since before the village was destroyed. Michael smiled slightly, but his back was still stiff.

He took his place at the rudder to help steer us, and we soon were almost out of sight of the island. I stared across the ocean back towards Karis. Everyone who I had ever known was there. And now I was being dragged away from it. I didn't know if I agreed with Michael in his decision to leave, but he was my brother, and if my parents were alive they probably would have wanted him to do this. But still...

I didn't get to finish my thought. I peered into the darkness and gasped at I made out the shadowy form of a boat following us.

"Michael!" I whispered urgently.

"What is it?" he asked calmly, looking into the blackness surrounding us.

"A boat! Off the starboard side, following us closely!" I said, the color draining out of my face.

Michael stared into the darkness. Finally, his eyes rested on something bobbing in the ocean about fifty yards from us. It was definitely a boat.

Two words came from Michael's lips, two I'd never forget.

"Shadow Knights..."

I stayed silent, staring into the still void of darkness around us.

And then the calm was disturbed by one single sound. The subtle whiz of an arrow flying through the air. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that. I somehow saw the arrow and acted at lightning speed to dodge it. I grabbed Michael's arm and pulled him to the bottom of the boat just as the arrow planted itself firmly in the mast inches above our heads.

I was panicking. How would we get out of this alive?

 ** _If you enjoyed this chapter, please comment and give advice or suggestions for the next chapter. Thanks!_**

 ** _=^.^= Ari the Dragongirl =^.~=_**


	3. Chapter 3

3.

 _ **This story is based around the Minecraft Diaries series by Aphmau with a few added twists from me. I do not own Minecraft, Minecraft Diaries or any of Aphmau's characters. This story has no real connections with the original series so please keep that in mind and enjoy it for what it is. Thanks!**_

Chapter 3

Unwanted Rescuer

Michael stared at me, eyes wide in shock at what i had just done, but there was no time to speak. He shot up from the bottom of the boat and immediately got to work adjusting the sail. As a gust of wind propelled us through the water, I heard another arrow whiz past, and ducked low into the boat. I stayed there, eyes squeezed shut and hands trembling, praying to Irene that no harm would come to us.

The next half hour was tense, just waiting and watching for any sign of arrows or the mysterious boat. I caught several glimpses of it and the two shadowy figures aboard it. Where had they come from? Michael had called them "Shadow Knights"...who were they? Did they work for Zane? My eyes narrowed in anger at the thought of the wretched man. Hot tears of anger and grief rolled down my cheeks. I swore to myself that I would get revenge, no matter the cost. But now was not the time to be thinking about revenge. We were in imminent danger, and we needed a miracle to get out of it.

I looked towards Michael. He was busy rummaging in a satchel. I hadn't noticed that he brought anything. He pulled two things from the bag and stared at them for a long while. I looked curiously at the objects. It was hard to see in the faint light from the crescent moon. They were long, both about two and a half feet in length, and they faintly glinted silver. Swords?

Without another moment's hesitation, Michael handed the swords to me. I pulled one sword partially out of its scabbard, revealing a pure silvery-white blade with small glyphs and patterns engraved on the blade.

"They are poison swords, enhanced with magic by a powerful witchcraft user. If you slice an enemy with them, depending on the intensity of the cut, it will either cause the victim to drop to the ground, poisoned and in a deep sleep, or cause their immediate death. Use them only when you need, and be cautious," Michael said solemnly. I had never seen these swords before.

"Their names are Skylar and Arwen. Use them wisely," he repeated the caution once more, and turned to take his bow out of the pack, along with his dark-blue blade, Serafine.

He was preparing me for a battle. I earnestly hoped to Irene that someone would rescue us from the Shadow Knights, and that we would not have to fight. I couldn't use those swords, could I? Another arrow flew through the air towards us, but it fell short and landed in the water. Reaching my hand in, I carefully snatched the arrow from the water and looked at it, careful only to grab the shaft, not the feathers or the arrowhead.

Michael saw me and was about to say something, but stopped himself, and continued to scan the night.

I took the arrow and secured it to my belt, and then intently examined the swords, being careful to also keep alert for any signs of an advance from the Shadow Knights.

Skylar and Arwen were nearly identical, with curved hand guards and leather hilts, and long pale silver blades. Skylar had a slightly curved tip and a thinner blade, while Arwen's blade was straight and true as an archer's aim, and wider than Skylar's. The only other way to tell the two swords apart was the different patterns etched on the blades. Skylar's blade had a design of stars and wisps of dust or smoke. Arwen had a twisted design of flowers and leaves going along her blade. Quickly sheathing the swords, I fastened them onto my belt alongside the arrow and looked around again. I immediately noticed something different about my surroundings. For one, the first rays of dawn were beginning to streak across the horizon. For two, I now heard the steady sound of oars splashing the water. In the faint light I saw the Shadow Knight's boat growing steadily closer at they rowed.

"Michael!" I whispered, shaking his shoulder. He turned to look and his countenance grew dark with an anger I had never seen before.

"We'll never outdistance them. We'll have to fight," Michael said, clearly angry with the mysterious people who still hounded us, even after all these hours.

"But I don't-" I started to say, but he quickly cut me off. "We have to fight. We have no choice. Besides...we need to buy some time. There is a ship out there." He pointed at the large shape of a ship looming in the distance. They were turned towards us. I didn't know if the Shadow Knights had seen the ship yet. If they still didn't give up on pursuing us once they saw the ship, then they must have a very important reason for tracking us for so long.

The ship was coming fast and the Shadow Knights were not giving up. They had almost overtaken us. Michael kept an eye on the Shadow Knights while I watched the ship. Though one thing bothered me. I had a persistent nagging in the back of my head that was seeming to tell me: the ship is dangerous. Run.

I ignored the thoughts, but as the got closer, I began to get even more on edge and nervous about it, and eventually spoke to Michael about it.

"There's something wrong. The ship is not friendly, I can feel it," I said earnestly.

"Are you sure?" Michael said, unconcerned, his eyes still fixed on the Shadow Knight's boat.

"YES!" I exclaimed.

He sighed, and said, "Ari, I would rather be the captive of an enemy scout ship than submit to the Shadow Knights." I considered this, but my anxiety continued to grow as I watched the ship. It was very large, not just some dumb little scout ship.

Half in a panic, I pleaded with Michael to turn the boat around, but he brushed my concern off.

"MICHAEL PLEASE!" I begged him. Now a black and white skull and crossbones flag was within sight. He now seemed a bit nervous as he watched the ship.

"Okay, maybe you were right..." Michael said, face pale. He took out his bow and set an arrow on it. We had to fight now. The Shadow Knights were upon us.

A figure in a dark cloak stood up and in a low, dark voice, said, "Surrender your weapons to us, or we will make you." He let out a chilling laugh and jumped to our boat, sword drawn. He eyed my swords, trying to identify any enchantments they might have on them.

Not giving him a chance to act, I lunged at him, swords drawn. Michael gasped at my move, but quickly regained his composure, and let the arrow fly at the second Shadow Knight.

I saw her lift her hand and a blue shield appeared in front of her, deflecting the arrow and sending it hurtling down into the depths of the ocean. Laughing, the female Shadow Knight drew her bow and aimed at me. With a chill of fear i realized that they did not consider Michael a threat.

Gritting my teeth, I stabbed recklessly at the Shadow Knight, but he dodged and slashed back at me. As if by instinct, I stepped back and with lightning speed deflected the blow with Arwen.

Slashing underneath the Shadow Knight's sword, I caught his wrist with the edge of Arwen and sliced through the flesh. The Shadow Knight let out a howl of pain and stumbled backwards, almost falling into the water.

The other Shadow Knight let the arrow loose and drew another. I dodged without thinking and pushed our boat off of the Shadow Knights'.

Michael drew another arrow and was about to fire when an immense shadow fell across both of the small craft. I gasped and stared up at a massive, three-masted ship with black sails and the name, the _Black Sapphire_ written on the hull.

"Well, well, well...what do we have here?" Came a dreadful voice from atop the ship's main deck. A chorus of cackling laughter joined with the first's.

The Shadow Knights looked as intimidated as I felt.

"I see we've come to your rescue, and just in time too...though that little girlie sure has some skill," the voice cackled, and I finally could see who it belonged to. It was Captain Rogan of the Javelin Pirate Clan, the leader of the pirates.

My heart sank and I knew we were captured. I prayed to Irene that someone else, who was on our side would save us from these dreadful and ruthless pirates.

 ** _If you enjoyed this chapter, please comment and give advice and ideas for the next one, thanks!_**

 ** _=^.^= Ari the Dragongirl =^.~=_**


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